When it comes to losing weight, the snacks you eat are just as important as the act of healthy snacking itself.
If you’re looking for a quick and healthy snack, Banana chips might be appealing to you. However, if you prefer banana chips over the other varieties, you should ask yourself a question. Are banana chips actually good for you?
Here’s a reality check:
Nutrition facts: Banana Chips
While raw bananas can provide healthy nutrients, on the other hand, banana chips are highly processed. They don’t provide significant vitamins or minerals as compared to raw bananas because a single serving is relatively small and uses only a small part of the whole banana. Also, they’re commonly fried in oil and cooked with ingredients like honey or syrup that contribute significant calories, sugar, and fat.
1 cup(70 gm) portion size of banana chips contains:
- Calories: 367.5
- Total Fat: 23.8g
- Saturated Fat: 20.5g
- Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g
- Monounsaturated Fat: 1.4g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
- Sodium: 4.3mg
- Potassium: 380mg
- Carbohydrates: 42.5g
- Dietary Fiber: 5.5g
- Sugars: 25g
- Protein: 1.6
- Vitamin D: 0mg
- Calcium: 15mg
- Iron: 1.1mg
- Potassium: 456mg
In conclusion, banana chips do contribute to your daily intake of some essential nutrients. Although this snack contains fibre and a few vitamins and minerals, the fat, calorie, and sugar content quickly outweighs these benefits. So it is beneficial only if consumed in moderation. It can keep your body fuelled between meals, but eating too many of them can lead to weight gain.
Health Benefits of Banana Chips
If consumed in moderation, banana chips are indeed a tasty and handy snack.
Banana chips provide a quick source of calories and simple carbohydrates. A 1.5-ounce serving contains 218 calories, or about 10% of your daily calorie intake. That means banana chips can keep your body nourished in between meals, but they can potentially cause weight gain if consumed in high quantities.
The chips include magnesium, vitamin A, iron, phosphorus, and potassium in modest amounts, making them a decent source of some critical vitamins. These nutrients are good for your eyes and may help you avoid having high blood pressure.They also have a significantly longer shelf life than fresh bananas.This eliminates the need to watch a bunch of bananas rot on your kitchen counter. Overall, banana chips can be useful as a quick, handy, and affordable source of energy.
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Disadvantages of Eating Banana Chips
Banana chips may appear to be a healthy alternative for your daily snacks, but there are some drawbacks to consider.
Many commercially available banana chips are fried in oil and loaded with sugar, making them high in fat and added sugar. Some banana chips are coated in syrup or honey, increasing their sugar content significantly. Sugar consumption has been linked to obesity, heart disease, and diabetes.
Fried bananas are delicious. But you might eat more chips than you bargained for, especially if you think they’re just harmless lil’ bananas in another form, which is far from the real case. To conclude, banana chips can be a great healthy snack, but be wary of harmful cooking oils that add unnecessary fats.
How to choose healthier banana chips
Dehydrated, dried, or baked banana chips are preferable to fried varieties. By eliminating frying from the equation, you can save a lot of calories and saturated fats.
You can also choose a brand that flavours with herbs and spices rather than syrups or added sugar. You can also make your own baked raw banana chips. Instead of using sweeteners, you can season them with black pepper and a pinch of salt and bake them. Oven baked and dehydrated chips will always be a healthier alternative to deep fried chips.
The bottom line/verdict
Banana chips may appear healthy, but they contain unnecessary ingredients as well as excess calories, fats, and sugar.
It’s okay if you don’t feel like you can get that crunchy sweetness anywhere else. If you prefer a more nutritious option, look for brands that use natural, unsweetened flavours without frying.
Or simply… eat a banana.
If you still decide to eat banana chips, keep your portion size in mind.
